WCOOP Main Event - Jordan Berkowitz Wins  [09.18.2005]
The WCOOP main event was today. 1500 players signed up for the $2600 tournament meaning a first place prize of $860,000.

Today was also one of those days where nothing seemed to go right. I did manage to build up to 25,000 chips relatively early on, but none of the big confrontations I got into after that went well. I lost a couple 70/30�s on both sides, and didn�t win a single one of my many coin flips vs the smaller stacks. There was so much build up for today�s event that I have to say I�m extremely disappointed.

I did cash in the Party 200+15 today. It had 2,650 players and I finished 184th. It barely paid more than the buyin, but I suppose it�s considered a respectable finish none the less. This tournament was a lot like the WCOOP. I built tons of chips without showdowns, and then lost most my chips in a 60/40 scenario (several times).

I also played two $5000 sit�n�gos on Party today. I got knocked out early in the first one, and got third in the second one, so I basically broke even there.

Other than that, I don�t think I played any other poker today.

The big story of the night was Jordan Berkowitz. Under his friends account, Panella86, he finished 1st in the WCOOP winning just under $600,000. He and I used to be two of the top magic players on the east coast in the junior division back when I was 14 and he was 13. I must admit that after we became old enough for the pro circuit, he had a lot more success than I did.

There was an article written about him a while back. It detailed how he started playing online poker at age 17 and decided to drop out of college. This created a lot of controversy, and he was criticized heavily for the decision, even by Greg Raymer. By the time the article was written, Jordan had lost his big winnings and was in debt to many poker players. The writer of the article opted to leave that out saying that it would make for a much more entertaining read if the readers thought Jordan was the �Lebron James� of poker.

To be honest, I think Jordan was a very weak player back then, but his game certainly has gotten a lot better. He won the Million Dollar Guaranteed tournament on Party a few weeks ago, and tonight won the World Championship of Online Poker Man Event (which he also final tabled last year at age 17)., so I guess it�s safe to say that his game has improved immensely.

I can�t mention Jordan Berkowitz without mentioning his infamous personality. He�s a rash arrogant kid with an enormous ego. The chat at the final table made this blatantly obvious. There was a live commentary by Greg Raymer and Barry Greenstein, and they kept insinuating that Jordan was going a little crazy, showboating and whatnot. Jordan only confirmed that when he admitted he was drunk and just went nuts in the chat box. He flat out insulted all of his opponents and refused chops saying that he was far more skilled than everyone else left in the tournament. While it�s not my style to act like that, I have to say it makes for great entertainment.

The next few weeks will be very interesting for Jordan. The Magic community thinks that he�s a little too headstrong and doesn�t have enough sensibility about him. There was a lot of talk tonight about where he�s going to blow his winnings. Jordan has played some high stakes cash games in the past, and they didn�t go so well for him. Is he going take another shot? Will this shot go better than his last run at the higher stakes? It�s anybody�s guess.

Either way, Jordan is one of the most entertaining players to watch. Now that he�s 18, I think we�re going to see him entering a lot of live tournaments, and he may even break my record of being the youngest player ever to make a TV final table. I wouldn�t be too shocked if he gets a lot of TV coverage. Colorful characters like him make from great TV. Just look at Mike Matusow for example. Whether you�re rooting for him to win or die in a grease fire, you�re always stuck to the TV waiting in anticipation for what he�s going to do next. Maybe Jordan will be the next Mike Matusow. Only time will tell.

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